Reviewed by Jen

The Mercy Thompson series is one which continues to be a winner for me. Mercy is such a fantastic heroine. I love how her gifts keep evolving, while she still considers herself one of the weakest supernaturals in any given room. But what she may lack in brute strength, she makes up for in smarts and her ability to read a situation. This installment is no exception.

In many of the past books, the storyline surrounded a Mercy-in-Danger plot. That’s not so here. There is danger, to be sure, but Mercy is no more at risk than the pack as a whole.

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Camilo Santiago Briggs is a social worker with a heart of gold … and a past that leaves him unwilling to trust anything he didn’t earn for himself. Thomas Hughes is a retired billionaire looking to fund worthwhile projects close to his heart.

When the two meet briefly at a gala, there’s undeniable chemistry. When they meet again in a conference room to discuss project logistics, Milo is shocked but sure he can keep things professional. Tom, on the other hand, is looking to be Milo’s Prince Charming.

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Reviewed by Jen & Sara

Jen: I am such a big fan of Thea Harrison and her Elder Races series. This is the first book in a new trilogy set in that world and even if you’ve never read one of Harrison’s books before, you can easily jump in here. As made obvious by the title, this trilogy focuses on witches, particularly one who is just coming into her powers.

First of all, I love that Molly is an older heroine. She’s around 40 years old and her magical awakening comes due to a major disaster in her life rather than reaching a particular age. That being said, at the beginning, she is still a somewhat naïve and sheltered woman. She has essentially built her life around being the perfect wife for her husband and that made her a little difficult for me to relate to. I mean, I know women like this exist in the world, but in some ways, she was as much of a clean slate as a 21-year-old coming into her power.

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Reviewed by Jen

I really enjoyed this latest installment in the Alex Craft series. Even though there is what feels like an eternity between releases of these books, I am always able to jump back in so seamlessly and fall into the world. Alas, we do not see much of Death this time around. You can thank the events of the last book for that. Instead, this centers on an adventure Alex takes with Dugan, prince of the Shadow realm, and Falin, the Winter queen’s knight.

The story begins with Dugan visiting Tongues for the Dead, in need of help from Alex to solve the mysterious death of one of his people. Falin gets involved right away, as soon as he catches word that Dugan is in the human realm. Turns out someone is dead from both Dugan’s court and Falin’s. And the bodies were found in the Winter court. Likely, it was set up as a frame job.

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Reviewed by Jen

This is the fourth book in Sophie Barnes’ Diamonds in the Rough series and it centers on Viola Cartright, the mysterious patroness of St. Agatha’s hospital. Though we have met her several times over the course of the series, if you jump in here, you will be fine reading this as a standalone.

Viola is a young widow trying to keep a low profile. The ton kind of gives her the side-eye because she married a man old enough to be her father, or maybe even her grandfather, and he left her everything when he died the very next day. All she wants to do is run her hospital and make a difference, but when her grown son-in-law comes home and wants to fight her for his father’s fortune, everything starts to fall apart.

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The Takeover Effect is the first book in Nisha Sharma’s Singh Family trilogy. It tells the story of the eldest Singh brother, Hemdeep, who broke his father’s heart when he left the family multinational corporation to create his own legacy. At the start of our tale, sales and profits are down far enough that a buyout offer is made and Daddy Singh has a heart attack. As the Singh brothers scramble to respond without disclosing the health issues, lawyer Mina Kohli shows up to lead the Board committee reviewing the offer.

Mina is trying to rebuild her mother’s legacy, tarnished by her younger brothers when they kicked her out of the firm she started. To accomplish her planned coup, Mina needs to make partner and her uncle dangles that cheery in front of her on the condition that her recommendation aligns with his interests. She can smell a rat but what other option does she have?

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure, a novella in Milan’s Worth Saga series, tells the story of the seventy-three years young widow Bertrice Martin, the bad behaviour of her Terrible Nephew, and how she finally decided to do something about it & him. She’s inspired to take action by Violetta Beauchamps, the manager of the boarding house where Terrible Nephew has his rooms.

Violetta is looking for a little boost to her financials, now that she’s been forcibly retired, and she’s not above a little fraud to get it. Cut off without her promised pension, exhausted at the idea of looking for more work at sixty-nine, and fed up with the Terrible Nephew and the two years of arrears he owes, she’s determined to get the needed funds from Mrs. Martin.

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Reviewed by Jen

When Ann Bishop kicked off The Others series, I was so blown away by how much I loved Written in Red. As new installments published, I enjoyed some more than others. Generally, the earlier books were my favorites. While I think I liked this book more than I expected, it didn’t enthrall me quite so much as this series is capable of. Don’t get me wrong. It was good. It was just missing the kind of connection you get from a strong central main character.

I would say all of the Bishop of books I have read were ensemble pieces. But, I still felt like I knew who the story was mainly about. Generally, the first part of the series was about Meg. Lake Silence was primarily about Vicki. Here, I couldn’t tell you who the lead is. Maybe Jana (?) the new police officer who has come to the town of Bennett to serve under a wolf Sheriff. She’s probably the closest, although her POV scenes only make up a fraction of the book. The characters are interesting and eclectic, and they all weave together for a cohesive story, but I was missing some of my emotional investment.

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Reviewed by Jen

Faith Hunter is such a master craftsman of urban fantasy. All of her books in her Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood world are just so dense and layered… in plot, in backstory, and in the characters. The Soulwood books are the spinoffs and if you have not read Dark Queen, the latest Yellowrock book, be prepared for some spoilers because there is some overlap.

Nell, our heroine, has grown so much over the course of this series. She started off as this— I don’t want to say backward, but off-grid woman who has never known I truly modern life. She grew up as part of a polygamist cult and lives in the middle of the woods in a house off the power and water lines. But while she may never truly be free of her upbringing and the impact of its effects, she has now embraced a lot of the modern world in her job as a probationary Psy-Led agent. Not only that, she is bringing her sister, Mud, along with her. Nell is working towards adopting the 12-year-old, but has to make a few more changes to her lifestyle in order for that to happen.

The Ultimate Pi Day Party is the first book in Jackie Lau’s new Baldwin Village series, set in the eponymous foodie artistic neighbourhood of Toronto. The story follows Josh, a tech CEO with massive daddy issues, as he falls for Sarah, the owner of a local pie shop. After testing the delicious sweet and savoury concoctions dreamt up by Sarah, he concocts a scheme to throw the ultimate Pi Day party and win his way back into his father’s notice (Josh’s estranged dad is a retired math teacher). Turns out, Sarah is just as irresistible as her pie and romance ensues.